Emitting and negatively-refractive focusing apparatus, methods, and systems

ABSTRACT

Apparatus, methods, and systems provide emitting and negatively-refractive focusing of electromagnetic energy. In some approaches the negatively-refractive focusing includes negatively-refractive focusing from an interior field region with an axial magnification substantially greaters than one. In some approaches the negatively-refractive focusing includes negatively-refractive focusing with a transformation medium, where the transformation medium may include an artificially-structured material such as a metamaterial.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is related to and claims the benefit of theearliest available effective filing date(s) from the following listedapplication(s) (the “Related Applications”) (e.g., claims earliestavailable priority dates for other than provisional patent applicationsor claims benefits under 35 USC §119(e) for provisional patentapplications, for any and all parent, grandparent, great-grandparent,etc. applications of the Related Application(s)).

RELATED APPLICATIONS

For purposes of the USPTO extra-statutory requirements, the presentapplication constitutes a continuation-in-part of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/156,443, entitled FOCUSING AND SENSINGAPPARATUS, METHODS, AND SYSTEMS, naming Jeffrey A. Bowers, Roderick A.Hyde, Edward K. Y. Jung, John Brian Pendry, David Schurig, David R.Smith, Clarence T. Tegreene, Thomas A. Weaver, Charles Whitmer, andLowell L. Wood, Jr. as inventors, filed May 30, 2008, which is currentlyco-pending, or is an application of which a currently co-pendingapplication is entitled to the benefit of the filing date.

For purposes of the USPTO extra-statutory requirements, the presentapplication constitutes a continuation-in-part of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/214,534, entitled EMITTING AND FOCUSINGAPPARATUS, METHODS, AND SYSTEMS, naming Jeffrey A. Bowers, Roderick A.Hyde, Edward K. Y. Jung, John Brian Pendry, David Schurig, David R.Smith, Clarence T. Tegreene, Thomas A. Weaver, Charles Whitmer, andLowell L. Wood, Jr. as inventors, filed Jun. 18, 2008, which iscurrently co-pending, or is an application of which a currentlyco-pending application is entitled to the benefit of the filing date.

For purposes of the USPTO extra-statutory requirements, the presentapplication constitutes a continuation-in-part of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. (NOT YET ASSIGNED), entitled NEGATIVELY-REFRACTIVEFOCUSING AND SENSING APPARATUS, METHODS, AND SYSTEMS, naming Jeffrey A.Bowers, Roderick A. Hyde, Edward K. Y. Jung, John Brian Pendry, DavidSchurig, David R. Smith, Clarence T. Tegreene, Thomas A. Weaver, CharlesWhitmer, and Lowell L. Wood, Jr. as inventors, filed Jul. 25, 2008,which is currently co-pending, or is an application of which a currentlyco-pending application is entitled to the benefit of the filing date.

For purposes of the USPTO extra-statutory requirements, the presentapplication constitutes a continuation-in-part of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. (NOT YET ASSIGNED), entitled EMITTING ANDNEGATIVELY-REFRACTIVE FOCUSING APPARATUS, METHODS, AND SYSTEMS, namingJeffrey A. Bowers, Roderick A. Hyde, Edward K. Y. Jung, John BrianPendry, David Schurig, David R. Smith, Clarence T. Tegreene, Thomas A.Weaver, Charles Whitmer, and Lowell L. Wood, Jr. as inventors, filedJul. 25, 2008, which is currently co-pending, or is an application ofwhich a currently co-pending application is entitled to the benefit ofthe filing date.

The United States Patent Office (USPTO) has published a notice to theeffect that the USPTO's computer programs require that patent applicantsreference both a serial number and indicate whether an application is acontinuation or continuation-in-part. Stephen G. Kunin, Benefit ofPrior-Filed Application, USPTO Official Gazette Mar. 18, 2003, availableat http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/sol/og/2003/week11/patbene.htm.The present Applicant Entity (hereinafter “Applicant”) has providedabove a specific reference to the application(s) from which priority isbeing claimed as recited by statute. Applicant understands that thestatute is unambiguous in its specific reference language and does notrequire either a serial number or any characterization, such as“continuation” or “continuation-in-part,” for claiming priority to U.S.patent applications. Notwithstanding the foregoing, Applicantunderstands that the USPTO's computer programs have certain data entryrequirements, and hence Applicant is designating the present applicationas a continuation-in-part of its parent applications as set forth above,but expressly points out that such designations are not to be construedin any way as any type of commentary and/or admission as to whether ornot the present application contains any new matter in addition to thematter of its parent application(s).

All subject matter of the Related Applications and of any and allparent, grandparent, great-grandparent, etc. applications of the RelatedApplications is incorporated herein by reference to the extent suchsubject matter is not inconsistent herewith.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The application discloses apparatus, methods, and systems that mayrelate to electromagnetic responses that include emitting andnegatively-refractive focusing of electromagnetic energy.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 depicts a first configuration of a negatively-refractive focusingstructure.

FIG. 2 depicts a first coordinate transformation.

FIG. 3 depicts a second configuration of a negatively-refractivefocusing structure.

FIG. 4 depicts a second coordinate transformation.

FIG. 5 depicts a negatively-refractive focusing structure with an outputsurface region.

FIG. 6 depicts a first process flow.

FIG. 7 depicts a second process flow.

FIG. 8 depicts a system that includes a focusing unit and a controller.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description, reference is made to theaccompanying drawings, which form a part hereof. In the drawings,similar symbols typically identify similar components, unless contextdictates otherwise. The illustrative embodiments described in thedetailed description, drawings, and claims are not meant to be limiting.Other embodiments may be utilized, and other changes may be made,without departing from the spirit or scope of the subject matterpresented here.

Transformation optics is an emerging field of electromagneticengineering. Transformation optics devices include lenses that refractelectromagnetic waves, where the refraction imitates the bending oflight in a curved coordinate space (a “transformation” of a flatcoordinate space), e.g. as described in A. J. Ward and J. B. Pendry,“Refraction and geometry in Maxwell's equations,” J. Mod. Optics 43, 773(1996), J. B. Pendry and S. A. Ramakrishna, “Focusing light usingnegative refraction,” J. Phys. [Cond. Matt.] 15, 6345 (2003), D. Schuriget al, “Calculation of material properties and ray tracing intransformation media,” Optics Express 14, 9794 (2006) (“D. Schurig et al(1)”), and in U. Leonhardt and T. G. Philbin, “General relativity inelectrical engineering,” New J. Phys. 8, 247 (2006), each of which isherein incorporated by reference. The use of the term “optics” does notimply any limitation with regards to wavelength; a transformation opticsdevice may be operable in wavelength bands that range from radiowavelengths to visible wavelengths.

A first exemplary transformation optics device is the electromagneticcloak that was described, simulated, and implemented, respectively, inJ. B. Pendry et al, “Controlling electromagnetic waves,” Science 312,1780 (2006); S. A. Cummer et al, “Full-wave simulations ofelectromagnetic cloaking structures,” Phys. Rev. E 74, 036621 (2006);and D. Schurig et al, “Metamaterial electromagnetic cloak at microwavefrequencies,” Science 314, 977 (2006) (“D. Schurig et al (2)”); each ofwhich is herein incorporated by reference. See also J. Pendry et al,“Electromagnetic cloaking method,” U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/459,728, herein incorporated by reference. For the electromagneticcloak, the curved coordinate space is a transformation of a flat spacethat has been punctured and stretched to create a hole (the cloakedregion), and this transformation corresponds to a set of constitutiveparameters (electric permittivity and magnetic permeability) for atransformation medium wherein electromagnetic waves are refracted aroundthe hole in imitation of the curved coordinate space.

A second exemplary transformation optics device is illustrated byembodiments of the electromagnetic compression structure described in J.B. Pendry, D. Schurig, and D. R. Smith, “Electromagnetic compressionapparatus, methods, and systems,” U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/982,353; and in J. B. Pendry, D. Schurig, and D. R. Smith,“Electromagnetic compression apparatus, methods, and systems,” U.S.patent application Ser. No. 12/069,170; each of which is hereinincorporated by reference. In embodiments described therein, anelectromagnetic compression structure includes a transformation mediumwith constitutive parameters corresponding to a coordinatetransformation that compresses a region of space intermediate first andsecond spatial locations, the effective spatial compression beingapplied along an axis joining the first and second spatial locations.The electromagnetic compression structure thereby provides an effectiveelectromagnetic distance between the first and second spatial locationsgreater than a physical distance between the first and second spatiallocations.

A third exemplary transform optics device is illustrated by embodimentsof the electromagnetic cloaking and/or translation structure describedin J. T. Kare, “Electromagnetic cloaking apparatus, methods, andsystems,” U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/074,247; and in J. T.Kare, “Electromagnetic cloaking apparatus, methods, and systems,” U.S.patent application Ser. No. 12/074,248; each of which is hereinincorporated by reference. In embodiments described therein, anelectromagnetic translation structure includes a transformation mediumthat provides an apparent location of an electromagnetic transducerdifferent then an actual location of the electromagnetic transducer,where the transformation medium has constitutive parameterscorresponding to a coordinate transformation that maps the actuallocation to the apparent location. Alternatively or additionally,embodiments include an electromagnetic cloaking structure operable todivert electromagnetic radiation around an obstruction in a field ofregard of the transducer (and the obstruction can be anothertransducer).

Additional exemplary transformation optics devices are described in D.Schurig et al, “Transformation-designed optical elements,” Opt. Exp. 15,14772 (2007); M. Rahm et al, “Optical design of reflectionless complexmedia by finite embedded coordinate transformations,” Phys. Rev. Lett.100, 063903 (2008); and A. Kildishev and V. Shalaev, “Engineering spacefor light via transformation optics,” Opt. Lett. 33, 43 (2008); each ofwhich is herein incorporated by reference.

In general, for a selected coordinate transformation, a transformationmedium can be identified wherein electromagnetic waves refract as ifpropagating in a curved coordinate space corresponding to the selectedcoordinate transformation. Constitutive parameters of the transformationmedium can be obtained from the equations:

{tilde over (ε)}^(i′j′)=|det(Λ)|⁻¹Λ_(i) ^(i′)Λ_(j) ^(j′)ε^(ij)   (1)

{tilde over (μ)}^(i′j′)=|det(Λ)|⁻¹Λ_(i) ^(i′)Λ_(j) ^(j′)μ^(ij)   (2)

where {tilde over (ε)} and {tilde over (μ)} are the permittivity andpermeability tensors of the transformation medium, ε and μ are thepermittivity and permeability tensors of the original medium in theuntransformed coordinate space, and

$\begin{matrix}{\Lambda_{i}^{i^{\prime}} = \frac{\partial x^{i^{\prime}}}{\partial x^{i}}} & (3)\end{matrix}$

is the Jacobian matrix corresponding to the coordinate transformation.In some applications, the coordinate transformation is a one-to-onemapping of locations in the untransformed coordinate space to locationsin the transformed coordinate space, and in other applications thecoordinate transformation is a one-to-many mapping of locations in theuntransformed coordinate space to locations in the transformedcoordinate space. Some coordinate transformations, such as one-to-manymappings, may correspond to a transformation medium having a negativeindex of refraction. In some applications, only selected matrix elementsof the permittivity and permeability tensors need satisfy equations (1)and (2), e.g. where the transformation optics response is for a selectedpolarization only. In other applications, a first set of permittivityand permeability matrix elements satisfy equations (1) and (2) with afirst Jacobian Λ, corresponding to a first transformation opticsresponse for a first polarization of electromagnetic waves, and a secondset of permittivity and permeability matrix elements, orthogonal (orotherwise complementary) to the first set of matrix elements, satisfyequations (1) and (2) with a second Jacobian Λ′, corresponding to asecond transformation optics response for a second polarization ofelectromagnetic waves. In yet other applications, reduced parameters areused that may not satisfy equations (1) and (2), but preserve productsof selected elements in (1) and selected elements in (2), thuspreserving dispersion relations inside the transformation medium (see,for example, D. Schurig et al (2), supra, and W. Cai et al, “Opticalcloaking with metamaterials,” Nature Photonics 1, 224 (2007), hereinincorporated by reference). Reduced parameters can be used, for example,to substitute a magnetic response for an electric response, or viceversa. While reduced parameters preserve dispersion relations inside thetransformation medium (so that the ray or wave trajectories inside thetransformation medium are unchanged from those of equations (1) and(2)), they may not preserve impedance characteristics of thetransformation medium, so that rays or waves incident upon a boundary orinterface of the transformation medium may sustain reflections (whereasin general a transformation medium according to equations (1) and (2) issubstantially nonreflective). The reflective or scatteringcharacteristics of a transformation medium with reduced parameters canbe substantially reduced or eliminated by a suitable choice ofcoordinate transformation, e.g. by selecting a coordinate transformationfor which the corresponding Jacobian Λ (or a subset of elements thereof)is continuous or substantially continuous at a boundary or interface ofthe transformation medium (see, for example, W. Cai et al, “Nonmagneticcloak with minimized scattering,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 91, 111105 (2007),herein incorporated by reference).

In general, constitutive parameters (such as permittivity andpermeability) of a medium responsive to an electromagnetic wave can varywith respect to a frequency of the electromagnetic wave (orequivalently, with respect to a wavelength of the electromagnetic wavein vacuum or in a reference medium). Thus, a medium can haveconstitutive parameters ε₁, μ₁, etc. at a first frequency, andconstitutive parameters ε₂, μ₂, etc. at a second frequency; and so onfor a plurality of constitutive parameters at a plurality offrequencies. In the context of a transformation medium, constitutiveparameters at a first frequency can provide a first response toelectromagnetic waves at the first frequency, corresponding to a firstselected coordinate transformation, and constitutive parameters at asecond frequency can provide a second response to electromagnetic wavesat the second frequency, corresponding to a second selected coordinatetransformation; and so on: a plurality of constitutive parameters at aplurality of frequencies can provide a plurality of responses toelectromagnetic waves corresponding to a plurality of coordinatetransformations. In some embodiments the first response at the firstfrequency is substantially nonzero (i.e. one or both of ε₁ and μ₁ issubstantially non-unity), corresponding to a nontrivial coordinatetransformation, and a second response at a second frequency issubstantially zero (i.e. ε₂ and μ₂ are substantially unity),corresponding to a trivial coordinate transformation (i.e. a coordinatetransformation that leaves the coordinates unchanged); thus,electromagnetic waves at the first frequency are refracted(substantially according to the nontrivial coordinate transformation),and electromagnetic waves at the second frequency are substantiallynonrefracted. Constitutive parameters of a medium can also change withtime (e.g. in response to an external input or control signal), so thatthe response to an electromagnetic wave can vary with respect tofrequency and/or time. Some embodiments may exploit this variation withfrequency and/or time to provide respective frequency and/or timemultiplexing/demultiplexing of electromagnetic waves. Thus, for example,a transformation medium can have a first response at a frequency at timet₁, corresponding to a first selected coordinate transformation, and asecond response at the same frequency at time t₂, corresponding to asecond selected coordinate transformation. As another example, atransformation medium can have a response at a first frequency at timet₁, corresponding to a selected coordinate transformation, andsubstantially the same response at a second frequency at time t₂. In yetanother example, a transformation medium can have, at time t₁, a firstresponse at a first frequency and a second response at a secondfrequency, whereas at time t₂, the responses are switched, i.e., thesecond response (or a substantial equivalent thereof) is at the firstfrequency and the first response (or a substantial equivalent thereof)is at the second frequency. The second response can be a zero orsubstantially zero response. Other embodiments that utilize frequencyand/or time dependence of the transformation medium will be apparent toone of skill in the art.

Constitutive parameters such as those of equations (1) and (2) (orreduced parameters derived therefrom) can be realized usingartificially-structured materials. Generally speaking, theelectromagnetic properties of artificially-structured materials derivefrom their structural configurations, rather than or in addition totheir material composition.

In some embodiments, the artificially-structured materials are photoniccrystals. Some exemplary photonic crystals are described in J. D.Joannopoulos et al, Photonic Crystals: Molding the Flow of Light, 2^(nd)Edition, Princeton Univ. Press, 2008, herein incorporated by reference.In photonic crystals, photonic dispersion relations and/or photonic bandgaps are engineered by imposing a spatially-varying pattern on anelectromagnetic material (e.g. a conducting, magnetic, or dielectricmaterial) or a combination of electromagnetic materials. The photonicdispersion relations translate to effective constitutive parameters(e.g. permittivity, permeability, index of refraction) for the photoniccrystal. The spatially-varying pattern is typically periodic,quasi-periodic, or colloidal periodic, with a length scale comparable toan operating wavelength of the photonic crystal.

In other embodiments, the artificially-structured materials aremetamaterials. Some exemplary metamaterials are described in R. A. Hydeet al, “Variable metamaterial apparatus,” U.S. patent application Ser.No. 11/355,493; D. Smith et al, “Metamaterials,” InternationalApplication No. PCT/US2005/026052; D. Smith et al, “Metamaterials andnegative refractive index,” Science 305, 788 (2004); D. Smith et al,“Indefinite materials,” U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/525,191; C.Caloz and T. Itoh, Electromagnetic Metamaterials: Transmission LineTheory and Microwave Applications, Wiley-Interscience, 2006; N. Enghetaand R. W. Ziolkowski, eds., Metamaterials: Physics and EngineeringExplorations, Wiley-Interscience, 2006; and A. K. Sarychev and V. M.Shalaev, Electrodynamics of Metamaterials, World Scientific, 2007; eachof which is herein incorporated by reference.

Metamaterials generally feature subwavelength elements, i.e. structuralelements with portions having electromagnetic length scales smaller thanan operating wavelength of the metamaterial, and the subwavelengthelements have a collective response to electromagnetic radiation thatcorresponds to an effective continuous medium response, characterized byan effective permittivity, an effective permeability, an effectivemagnetoelectric coefficient, or any combination thereof. For example,the electromagnetic radiation may induce charges and/or currents in thesubwavelength elements, whereby the subwavelength elements acquirenonzero electric and/or magnetic dipole moments. Where the electriccomponent of the electromagnetic radiation induces electric dipolemoments, the metamaterial has an effective permittivity; where themagnetic component of the electromagnetic radiation induces magneticdipole moments, the metamaterial has an effective permeability; andwhere the electric (magnetic) component induces magnetic (electric)dipole moments (as in a chiral metamaterial), the metamaterial has aneffective magnetoelectric coefficient. Some metamaterials provide anartificial magnetic response; for example, split-ring resonators(SRRs)—or other LC or plasmonic resonators—built from nonmagneticconductors can exhibit an effective magnetic permeability (c.f. J. B.Pendry et al, “Magnetism from conductors and enhanced nonlinearphenomena,” IEEE Trans. Micro. Theo. Tech. 47, 2075 (1999), hereinincorporated by reference). Some metamaterials have “hybrid”electromagnetic properties that emerge partially from structuralcharacteristics of the metamaterial, and partially from intrinsicproperties of the constituent materials. For example, G. Dewar, “A thinwire array and magnetic host structure with n<0,”J. Appl. Phys. 97,10Q101 (2005), herein incorporated by reference, describes ametamaterial consisting of a wire array (exhibiting a negativepermeability as a consequence of its structure) embedded in anonconducting ferrimagnetic host medium (exhibiting an intrinsicnegative permeability). Metamaterials can be designed and fabricated toexhibit selected permittivities, permeabilities, and/or magnetoelectriccoefficients that depend upon material properties of the constituentmaterials as well as shapes, chiralities, configurations, positions,orientations, and couplings between the subwavelength elements. Theselected permittivities, permeabilities, and/or magnetoelectriccoefficients can be positive or negative, complex (having loss or gain),anisotropic, variable in space (as in a gradient index lens), variablein time (e.g. in response to an external or feedback signal), variablein frequency (e.g. in the vicinity of a resonant frequency of themetamaterial), or any combination thereof. The selected electromagneticproperties can be provided at wavelengths that range from radiowavelengths to infrared/visible wavelengths; the latter wavelengths areattainable, e.g., with nanostructured materials such as nanorod pairs ornano-fishnet structures (c.f. S. Linden et al, “Photonic metamaterials:Magnetism at optical frequencies,” IEEE J. Select. Top. Quant. Elect.12, 1097 (2006) and V. Shalaev, “Optical negative-index metamaterials,”Nature Photonics 1, 41 (2007), both herein incorporated by reference).An example of a three-dimensional metamaterial at optical frequencies,an elongated-split-ring “woodpile” structure, is described in M. S. Rillet al, “Photonic metamaterials by direct laser writing and silverchemical vapour deposition,” Nature Materials advance onlinepublication, May 11, 2008, (doi:10.1038/nmat2197).

While many exemplary metamaterials are described as including discreteelements, some implementations of metamaterials may include non-discreteelements or structures. For example, a metamaterial may include elementscomprised of sub-elements, where the sub-elements are discretestructures (such as split-ring resonators, etc.), or the metamaterialmay include elements that are inclusions, exclusions, layers, or othervariations along some continuous structure (e.g. etchings on asubstrate). Some examples of layered metamaterials include: a structureconsisting of alternating doped/intrinsic semiconductor layers (cf. A.J. Hoffman, “Negative refraction in semiconductor metamaterials,” NatureMaterials 6, 946 (2007), herein incorporated by reference), and astructure consisting of alternating metal/dielectric layers (cf. A.Salandrino and N. Engheta, “Far-field subdiffraction optical microscopyusing metamaterial crystals: Theory and simulations,” Phys. Rev. B 74,075103 (2006); and Z. Jacob et al, “Optical hyperlens: Far-field imagingbeyond the diffraction limit,” Opt. Exp. 14, 8247 (2006); each of whichis herein incorporated by reference). The metamaterial may includeextended structures having distributed electromagnetic responses (suchas distributed inductive responses, distributed capacitive responses,and distributed inductive-capacitive responses). Examples includestructures consisting of loaded and/or interconnected transmission lines(such as microstrips and striplines), artificial ground plane structures(such as artificial perfect magnetic conductor (PMC) surfaces andelectromagnetic band gap (EGB) surfaces), and interconnected/extendednanostructures (nano-fishnets, elongated SRR woodpiles, etc.).

With reference now to FIG. 1, an illustrative embodiment is depictedthat includes a negatively-refractive focusing structure 110. This andother drawings, unless context dictates otherwise, can represent aplanar view of a three-dimensional embodiment, or a two-dimensionalembodiment (e.g. in FIG. 1 where the structures are positioned inside ametallic or dielectric slab waveguide oriented normal to the page). Thenegatively-refractive focusing structure negatively refracts andtransmits electromagnetic energy, depicted as solid rays 102 (the use ofa ray description, in FIG. 1 and elsewhere, is a heuristic conveniencefor purposes of visual illustration, and is not intended to connote anylimitations or assumptions of geometrical optics; further, the elementsdepicted in FIG. 1 can have spatial dimensions that are variously lessthan, greater than, or comparable to a wavelength of interest). Thetransmitted electromagnetic energy converges towards an exteriorfocusing region 120 positioned outside the negatively-refractivefocusing structure 110; in this example, the exterior focusing region120 is depicted as a slab having a thickness equal an axial extent 122of the exterior focusing region. The axial extent 122 corresponds to anaxial direction indicated by the axial unit vector 160, with transverseunit vectors 161 and 162 defined perpendicular thereto. In FIG. 1, theelectromagnetic energy radiates from exemplary electromagnetic sources101 in an interior field region 130, the interior field region beingpositioned inside the negatively-refractive focusing structure. In thisexample, the interior field region 130 is depicted as a slab having athickness equal to an axial extent 132 of the interior field region. Theelectromagnetic sources 101 in the interior field region correspond toelectromagnetic images 103 in the exterior focusing region. The axialextent 122 of the exterior focusing region (spanned, in this example, bythe electromagnetic images 103) exceeds the axial extent 132 of theinterior field region (spanned, in this example, by the electromagneticsources 101), thus demonstrating that the negatively-refractive focusingstructure provides an axial magnification greater than one, and in thisexample the axial magnification corresponds to a ratio of the axialextent of the exterior focusing region to the axial extent of theinterior field region. Embodiments optionally include one or moreelectromagnetic emitters (schematically depicted as ellipses 150)positioned within the interior field region (in the presentedillustrative representation, emitters are linearly positioned along theaxial extent 132 of the interior field region, but this is not intendedto be limiting).

In general, embodiments provide a negatively-refractive focusingstructure having an interior field region and an exterior focusingregion; electromagnetic energy that radiates from the interior fieldregion, and couples to the negatively-refractive focusing structure, issubsequently substantially concentrated in the exterior focusing region.For example, in some applications each object point in the interiorfield region defines a point spread function and a correspondingenclosed energy region (e.g. a region wherein some selectedfraction—such as 50%, 75%, or 90%—of electromagnetic energy thatradiates from the object point is concentrated), and the exteriorfocusing region is a union of the enclosed energy regions for the objectpoints that compose the interior field region. The negatively-refractivefocusing structure provides an axial magnification, and in someapplications the axial magnification corresponds to a ratio where thedivisor is an axial separation between first and second object pointsand the dividend is an axial separation between centroids of first andsecond point spread functions corresponding to the first and secondobject points. In some embodiments, the interior field region may be aplanar or substantially planar slab (e.g. 130 in FIG. 1) having a slabthickness providing the axial extent of the interior field region (e.g.132 in FIG. 1). In other embodiments, the interior field region may be anon-planar slab-like region, e.g. a cylindrically-, spherically-,ellipsoidally-, or otherwise-curved slab having a slab thicknessproviding the axial extent of the interior field region. In otherembodiments, the interior field region may be neither planar norslab-like. In some embodiments the negatively-refractive focusingstructure defines an optical axis as a symmetry or central axis of thenegatively-refractive focusing structure, and the optical axis providesan axial direction, with transverse directions defined perpendicularthereto. More generally, one may define an axial direction correspondingto an axial extent of the interior field region, with transversedirections defined perpendicular thereto. This is consistent with FIG.1, where the interior field region is a planar slab, and the axialdirection corresponds to a unit vector normal to the slab. Where theinterior field region is curved, the axial direction can vary along thetransverse extent of the interior field region. For example, where theinterior field region is a cylindrically- or spherically-curved slab,the axial direction corresponds to a radius unit vector (and thetransverse directions correspond to height/azimuth unit vectors orazimuth/zenith unit vectors, respectively); where the interior fieldregion is an otherwise-curved slab, the axial direction corresponds to avector locally normal to the slab surface (and the transverse directionscorrespond to orthogonal unit vectors locally tangent to the slabsurface).

In some embodiments a negatively-refractive focusing structure, such asthat depicted in FIG. 1, includes a transformation medium. For example,the ray trajectories 102 in FIG. 1 correspond to a coordinatetransformation that is multiple-valued and includes both a coordinateinversion and a uniform spatial contraction along the axial direction160 (within the axial extent of the negatively-refractive focusingstructure 110); this coordinate transformation can be used to identifyconstitutive parameters for a corresponding transformation medium (e.g.as provided in equations (1) and (2), or reduced parameters obtainedtherefrom) that responds to electromagnetic radiation as in FIG. 1.Explicitly, for the example of FIG. 1, defining z as an untransformedaxial coordinate and z′ as a transformed axial coordinate (where theaxial coordinates are measured along the axial direction 160), themultiple-valued coordinate transformation is depicted in FIG. 2, withfirst, second, and third branches 201, 202, and 203 corresponding tofunctions z′=f₁(z), z′=f₂(z), and z′=f₃(z), respectively. The firstbranch 201 is an identity transformation (f₁(z)=z) and maps anuntransformed coordinate region 220 to the exterior focusing region 120.The second branch 202 includes an axial coordinate inversion and auniform axial coordinate contraction, and maps the untransformedcoordinate region 220 to the interior field region 130. The third branch203 is a shifted itentity transformation (f₃(z)=z+C, where C is aconstant). The figure also indicates the axial extent of thenegatively-refractive focusing structure 110 on the z′-axis (coinciding,in this example, with the range of the second branch 202). On the secondbranch, defining a scale factor

$\begin{matrix}{{s = {\frac{z^{\prime}}{z} = {f_{2}^{\prime}(z)}}},} & (4)\end{matrix}$

the example of FIGS. 1-2 presents a constant negative scale factor−1<s<0 within the negatively-refractive focusing structure 110,corresponding to a coordinate inversion (whereby s<0) and a uniformspatial contraction (whereby |s|<1; in some instances within thisdocument, as shall be apparent to one of skill in the art, the use ofthe term “scale factor,” when used in the context of a spatialcontraction, may refer to the absolute value of a negative scale factorsuch as described here). Supposing that the negatively-refractivefocusing structure is surrounded by an ambient isotropic medium withconstitutive parameters ε^(ij)=εδ^(ij), μ^(ij)=μδ^(ij) (where δ^(ij)denotes the Kronecker delta-function, with δ^(ij)=1 for i=j and δ^(ij)=0for i≠j), the constitutive parameters of the transformation medium areobtained from equations (1) and (2) and are given by (in a basis withunit vectors 161, 162, and 160, respectively, in FIG.1)

$\begin{matrix}\begin{matrix}{{\overset{\sim}{ɛ} = {\begin{pmatrix}s^{- 1} & 0 & 0 \\0 & s^{- 1} & 0 \\0 & 0 & s\end{pmatrix}ɛ}},} & {\overset{\sim}{\mu} = {\begin{pmatrix}s^{- 1} & 0 & 0 \\0 & s^{- 1} & 0 \\0 & 0 & s\end{pmatrix}{\mu.}}}\end{matrix} & (5)\end{matrix}$

Thus, the uniform spatial dilation of FIGS. 1-2 corresponds to atransformation medium that is a uniform uniaxial medium. Moreover, thescale factor is negative, so that the constitutive parameters inequation (5) are negative, and the transformation medium is anegatively-refractive medium defining a negative index of refraction.

In some embodiments, the negatively-refractive focusing structureincludes a transformation medium that provides a non-uniform spatialcontraction. An example is depicted in FIG. 3 and the correspondingmultiple-valued coordinate transformation is depicted in FIG. 4. In FIG.3, as in FIG. 1, a negatively-refractive focusing structure 110 providesan exterior focusing region 120 for electromagnetic energy that radiatesfrom an interior field region 130. In contrast to FIG. 1, however, theembodiment of FIG. 3 provides a non-uniform scale factor s (the slope ofthe mapping function z′=f₂(z) for the second branch 202 of themultiple-valued coordinate transformation); indeed, the scale factor inthis relation satisfies, in some interval(s), the relation −1<s<0(corresponding to a local spatial contraction and coordinate inversion),and in other interval(s), the relation s<−1 (corresponding to a localspatial dilation and coordinate inversion). The constitutive relationsare again given by equations (5), where s is variable in the axialdirection, and the transformation medium is a non-uniform uniaxialmedium (again with negative constitutive parameters and defining anegative index of refraction).

More generally, embodiments of a negatively-refractive focusingstructure, operable to provide an exterior focusing region forelectromagnetic energy that radiates from an interior field region, maycomprise a transformation medium, the transformation mediumcorresponding to a multiple-valued coordinate transformation that mapsan untransformed region to the exterior focusing region, and furthermaps the untransformed region to the interior field region; and theconstitutive relations of this transformation medium may be implementedwith an artificially-structured material (such as a metamaterial), asdescribed previously. In some embodiments, the coordinate transformationincludes a coordinate inversion and spatial contraction along an axialdirection of the interior field region, and a scale factor of thespatial contraction (within the interior field region) may correspond toa ratio of an axial extent of the interior field region to an axialextent of the exterior focusing region. This is consistent with FIGS. 2and 4, where the slope triangle 200, indicating a scale factor in theinterior field region, is similar or substantially similar to a trianglewith a base 220 (equal to 120, for a first branch 201 that is anidentity transformation) and a height 130. Just as the axial directioncan vary along a transverse extent of the interior field region, thedirection of the coordinate inversion/contraction can vary as well.Thus, for example, a substantially cylindrically- or spherically-curvedinterior field region may correspond to a (uniform or non-uniform)inversion/contraction of a cylindrical or spherical radius coordinate; asubstantially ellipsoidally-curved interior field region may correspondto a (uniform or non-uniform) inversion/contraction of a confocalellipsoidal coordinate; etc.

The negatively-refractive focusing structure 110 is depicted in FIGS. 1and 3 as a planar slab, but this is a schematic illustration and is notintended to be limiting. In various embodiments thenegatively-refractive focusing structure can be a cylindrically-,spherically-, or ellipsoidally-curved slab, or any other slab- ornon-slab-like structure configured to provide an interior field regionfor negatively-refracted electromagnetic energy with an axialmagnification substantially greater than one. Some embodiments, such asthat depicted in FIG. 5, define an output surface region 510 as asurface region of the negatively-refractive focusing structure 110 thattransmits electromagnetic radiation to an adjacent region 500, and thisoutput surface region may be substantially nonreflective of thetransmitted electromagnetic radiation. For example, where thenegatively-refractive focusing structure is a transformation medium,equations (1) and (2) generally provide a medium that is substantiallynonreflective. More generally, the output surface region may besubstantially nonreflective by virtue of a substantialimpedance-matching to the adjacent region. With impedance-matching, awave impedance of the output surface region is substantially equal to awave impedance of the adjacent region. The wave impedance of anisotropic medium is

$\begin{matrix}{Z_{0} = \sqrt{\frac{\mu}{ɛ}}} & (6)\end{matrix}$

while the wave impedance of a generally anisotropic medium is a tensorquantity, e.g. as defined in L. M. Barkovskii and G. N. Borzdov, “Theimpedance tensor for electromagnetic waves in anisotropic media,” J.Appl. Spect. 20, 836 (1974) (herein incorporated by reference). In someembodiments an impedance-matching is a substantial matching of everymatrix element of the wave impedance tensor (i.e. to provide asubstantially nonreflective interface for all incident polarizations);in other embodiments an impedance-matching is a substantial matching ofonly selected matrix elements of the wave impedance tensor (e.g. toprovide a substantially nonreflective interface for a selectedpolarization only). In some embodiments, the adjacent region defines apermittivity ε₁ and a permeability μ₁, where either or both parametersmay be substantially unity or substantially non-unity; the input surfaceregion defines a permittivity ε₂ and a permeability μ₂, where either orboth parameters may be substantially unity or substantially non-unity;and the impedance-matching condition implies

$\begin{matrix}{\frac{ɛ_{2}}{ɛ_{1}} \cong \frac{\mu_{2}}{\mu_{1}}} & (7)\end{matrix}$

where ε₂ and μ₂ may be tensor quantities. Defining a surface normaldirection and a surface parallel direction (e.g. depicted as elements521 and 522, respectively, in FIG. 5), some embodiments provide a outputsurface region that defines: a surface normal permittivity ε₂ ^(⊥)corresponding to the surface normal direction and a surface parallelpermittivity ε₂ ^(∥) corresponding to the surface parallel direction;and/or a surface normal permeability μ₂ ^(⊥) corresponding to thesurface normal direction and a surface parallel permeability μ₂ ^(∥)corresponding to the surface parallel direction; and theimpedance-matching condition may imply (in addition to equation (7)) oneor both of the following conditions:

$\begin{matrix}{{\frac{ɛ_{2}^{\bot}}{ɛ_{1}} \cong \frac{ɛ_{1}}{ɛ_{2}^{\parallel}}},{\frac{\mu_{2}^{\bot}}{\mu_{1}} \cong {\frac{\mu_{1}}{\mu_{2}^{\parallel}}.}}} & (8)\end{matrix}$

Where the output surface region is a curved surface region (e.g. as inFIG. 5), the surface normal direction and the surface parallel directioncan vary with position along the output surface region.

Some embodiments provide one or more electromagnetic emitters positionedwithin the interior field region of the negatively-refractive focusingstructure. In general, electromagnetic emitters, such as those depictedFIG. 1 and in other embodiments, are electromagnetic devices ormaterials operable to radiate or transmit electromagnetic energy.Electromagnetic emitters can include antennas (such as wire/loopantennas, horn antennas, reflector antennas, patch antennas, phasedarray antennas, etc.), electroluminescent emitters (such aslight-emitting diodes, laser diodes, electroluminescent films/powders,etc.), cathodoluminescent emitters (cathode ray tubes, field emissiondisplays, vacuum fluorescent displays, etc.), gas discharge emitters(plasma displays, fluorescent lamps, metal halide lamps, etc.), lasersand laser gain media, photoluminescent emitters (quantum dots, phosphorpowders, fluorescent dyes/markers, etc.), incandescent emitters(incandescent lamps, halogen lamps, etc.),reflective/refractive/diffractive elements (such as micromirror arrays,microlenses, transmissive/reflective/transflective liquid crystals,etc.), various combinations or portions thereof (e.g. an LCD panel andbacklight, or a single pixel of a plasma display), or any otherdevices/materials operable to produce and/or deliver electromagneticenergy. Some embodiments include a plurality of electromagnetic emitterspositioned within the interior field region. A first example is amultiplet of emitters operable at a corresponding multiplet ofwavelengths or wavelength bands, i.e. a first emitter operable at afirst wavelength/wavelength band, a second emitter operable at a secondwavelength/wavelength band, etc. A second example is a plane array ofemitters or emitter multiplets positioned on an object plane within theinterior field region. A third example is a phased array of antennas.The plurality of emitters can be axially distributed (as in FIG. 1); forexample, the axial extent of the interior field region may admit aplurality of parallel plane emitter arrays.

In some embodiments the negatively-refractive focusing structureprovides an interior field region with an axial magnificationsubstantially greater than one for electromagnetic energy at a selectedfrequency/frequency band and/or a selected polarization. The selectedfrequency or frequency band may be selected from a range that includesradio frequencies, microwave frequencies, millimeter- orsubmillimeter-wave frequencies, THz-wave frequencies, opticalfrequencies (e.g. variously corresponding to soft x-rays, extremeultraviolet, ultraviolet, visible, near-infrared, infrared, or farinfrared light), etc. The selected polarization may be a particular TEpolarization (e.g. where the electric field is in a particular directiontransverse to the axial direction, as with s-polarized electromagneticenergy), a particular TM polarization (e.g. where the magnetic field isin a particular direction transverse to the axial direction, as withp-polarized electromagnetic energy), a circular polarization, etc.(other embodiments provide an interior field region with an axialmagnification substantially greater than one that is substantially thesame interior field region with substantially the same axialmagnification for any polarization of electromagnetic energy, e.g. forunpolarized electromagnetic energy).

In other embodiments the negatively-refractive focusing structureprovides a first interior field region with a first axial magnificationsubstantially greater than one for electromagnetic energy at a firstfrequency, and a second interior field region with a second axialmagnification substantially greater than one for electromagnetic energyat a second frequency. The first axial magnification may be differentthan or substantially equal to the first axial magnification, and thefirst and second interior field regions may be substantially (orcompletely) non-overlapping, partially overlapping or substantially (orcompletely) overlapping. For embodiments that recite first and secondfrequencies, the first and second frequencies may be selected from thefrequency categories in the preceding paragraph. Moreover, for theseembodiments, the recitation of first and second frequencies maygenerally be replaced by a recitation of first and second frequencybands, again selected from the above frequency categories. Theseembodiments providing a negatively-refractive focusing structureoperable at first and second frequencies may include a transformationmedium having an adjustable response to electromagnetic radiation. Forexample, the transformation medium may have a response toelectromagnetic radiation that is adjustable (e.g. in response to anexternal input or control signal) between a first response and a secondresponse, the first response providing the first interior field regionfor electromagnetic energy at the first frequency, and the secondresponse providing the second interior field region for electromagneticenergy at the second frequency. A transformation medium with anadjustable electromagnetic response may be implemented with variablemetamaterials, e.g. as described in R. A. Hyde et al, supra. Otherembodiments of a negatively-refractive focusing structure operable atfirst and second frequencies may include transformation medium having afrequency-dependent response to electromagnetic radiation, correspondingto frequency-dependent constitutive parameters. For example, thefrequency-dependent response at a first frequency may provide a firstinterior field region for electromagnetic energy at the first frequency,and the frequency-dependent response at a second frequency may providesecond interior field region for electromagnetic energy at the secondfrequency. A transformation medium having a frequency-dependent responseto electromagnetic radiation can be implemented withartificially-structured materials such as metamaterials; for example, afirst set of metamaterial elements having a response at the firstfrequency may be interleaved with a second set of metamaterial elementshaving a response at the second frequency.

An illustrative embodiment is depicted as a process flow diagram in FIG.6. Flow 600 includes operation 610—spatially contracting anelectromagnetic wave along a contraction direction. For example, anegatively-refractive focusing structure, such as that depicted aselement 110 in FIGS. 1 and 3, may spatially contract electromagneticenergy 102 along an axial direction perpendicular to an output surfaceof the negatively-refractive focusing structure (e.g. the direction 160in FIGS. 1 and 3 or the direction 521 in FIG. 5) to provide an axialextent of an interior field region 130 less than an axial extent of anexterior focusing region 120 (the ratio of axial extents inverselycorresponding to a provided axial magnification), and thenegatively-refractive focusing structure may include a transformationmedium that provides a coordinate contraction (for an axial coordinatecorresponding to the axial direction 160), the coordinate contractionhaving a scale factor inversely corresponding to the provided axialmagnification. Operation 610 optionally includes sub-operation612—spatially contracting a first component of the electromagnetic waveat a first frequency along the contraction direction-and sub-operation614—spatially contracting a second component of the electromagnetic waveat a second frequency along the contraction direction. For example, anegatively-refractive focusing structure may provide a first interiorfield region with a first axial magnification for electromagnetic energyat a first frequency and a second interior field region with a secondaxial magnification for electromagnetic energy at a second frequency,where the second axial magnification may be different than orsubstantially equal to the first axial magnification; and thisnegatively-refractive focusing structure operable at first and secondfrequencies may include a transformation medium having an adjustableresponse to electromagnetic radiation, or a transformation medium havinga frequency-dependent response to electromagnetic radiation. Flow 600includes operation 620—negatively refracting the contractedelectromagnetic wave at a surface region, the surface region defining asurface normal direction corresponding to the contraction direction. Forexample, a negatively-refractive focusing structure, such as thatdepicted as element 110 in FIG. 5, may include an output surface region510 that negatively refracts electromagnetic energy transmitted from theoutput surface region to an adjacent region, and thenegatively-refractive focusing structure may include a transformationmedium that provides a coordinate inversion (for a coordinatecorresponding to a direction normal to the surface, e.g. the direction521 in FIG. 5), the coordinate inversion corresponding to anegatively-refractive response of the transformation medium. Flow 600optionally includes operation 630—emitting the electromagnetic wave atone or more locations within a field region that is provided by thenegatively refracting and the spatially contracting. For example, anegatively-refractive focusing structure 110, such as that depicted inFIGS. 1 and 3, may provide an interior field region 130, and one or moreelectromagnetic emitters, such as those depicted as elements 150 in FIG.1, may be positioned within the interior field region to produce/deliverthe electromagnetic energy 102.

Another illustrative embodiment is depicted as a process flow diagram inFIG. 7. Flow 700 includes operation 710—determining electromagneticparameters that define a negative refractive index in a spatial region,the electromagnetic parameters providing an axial magnificationsubstantially greater than one for focusing from an interior fieldregion within the spatial region. For example, the spatial region may bea volume that encloses a negatively-refractive focusing structure, suchas that depicted as element 110 in FIGS. 1 and 3, and the determinedelectromagnetic parameters may be the electromagnetic parameters of thenegatively-refractive focusing structure. The negatively-refractivefocusing structure may include a transformation medium, where thedetermined electromagnetic parameters satisfy or substantially satisfyequations (1) and (2), as described above; or, the determinedelectromagnetic parameters may be reduced parameters (as discussedearlier) where the corresponding non-reduced parameters satisfyequations (1) and (2). In some embodiments, the determining of theelectromagnetic parameters includes: determining a coordinatetransformation (such as those depicted in FIGS. 2 and 4); thendetermining electromagnetic parameters for a correspondingtransformation medium (e.g. with equations (1) and (2)); then,optionally, reducing the electromagnetic parameters (e.g. to at leastpartially substitute a magnetic response for an electromagneticresponse, or vice versa, as discussed above). Operation 710 optionallyincludes sub-operation 712—for electromagnetic waves at a firstfrequency, determining a first subset of the electromagnetic parametersproviding a first axial magnification substantially greater than one forfocusing from a first interior field subregion within the interior fieldregion—and sub-operation 714—for electromagnetic waves at a secondfrequency, determining a second subset of the electromagnetic parametersproviding a second axial magnification substantially greater than onefor focusing from a second interior field subregion within the interiorfield region. For example, the determined electromagnetic parameters maybe the electromagnetic parameters of a negatively-refractive focusingstructure providing a first interior field region with a first axialmagnification for electromagnetic energy at a first frequency and asecond interior field region with a second axial magnification forelectromagnetic energy at a second frequency. The negatively-refractivefocusing structure may include a transformation medium having anadjustable response to electromagnetic radiation, e.g. adjustablebetween a first response, corresponding to the first subset of theelectromagnetic parameters, and a second response, corresponding to thesecond subset of the electromagnetic parameters. Or, thenegatively-refractive focusing structure may include a transformationmedium having a frequency-dependent response to electromagneticradiation, corresponding to frequency-dependent constitutive parameters,so that the first and second subsets of the electromagnetic parametersare values of the frequency-dependent constitutive parameters at thefirst and second frequencies, respectively. Flow 700 optionally furtherincludes operation 720—selecting one or more positions of one or moreelectromagnetic emitters within the spatial region. For example,electromagnetic emitters may be positioned in a phased array, an objectplane array, an axially-distributed arrangement, etc. Flow 700optionally further includes operation 730—configuring anartificially-structured material having an effective electromagneticresponse that corresponds to the electromagnetic parameters in thespatial region. For example, the configuring may include configuring thestructure(s) and/or the materials that compose a photonic crystal or ametamaterial. Operation 730 optionally includes determining anarrangement of a plurality of electromagnetically responsive elementshaving a plurality of individual responses, the plurality of individualresponses composing the effective electromagnetic response. For example,the determining may include determining the positions, orientations, andindividual response parameters (spatial dimensions, resonantfrequencies, linewidths, etc.) of a plurality of metamaterial elementssuch as split-ring resonators, wire or nanowire pairs, etc. Operation730 optionally includes configuring at least oneelectromagnetically-responsive structure to arrange a plurality ofdistributed electromagnetic responses, the plurality of distributedelectromagnetic responses composing the effective electromagneticresponse. For example, the configuring may include configuring thedistribution of loads and interconnections on a transmission linenetwork, configuring an arrangement of layers in a layered metamaterial,configuring a pattern of etching or deposition (as with a nano-fishnetstructure), etc.

With reference now to FIG. 8, an illustrative embodiment is depicted asa system block diagram. The system 800 includes a focusing unit 810optionally coupled to a controller unit 830. The focusing unit 810 mayinclude a negatively-refractive focusing structure such as that depictedas element 110 in FIGS. 1 and 3. The negatively-refractive focusingstructure may be a variable negatively-refractive focusing structure,such as a variable metamaterial responsive to one or more control inputsto vary one or more focusing characteristics (axial magnification,operating frequency/frequency band, operating polarization, effectivecoordinate transformation for a transformation medium, etc.); and thecontroller unit 830 may include control circuitry that provides one ormore control inputs to the variable negatively-refractive focusingstructure. The system 800 optionally further includes an emitting unit820 that may include one or more emitters, such as those depicted aselements 150 in FIG. 1, and associated circuitry such as transmittercircuitry and/or signal processing circuitry. The emitting unit 820 isoptionally coupled to the controller unit 830, and in some embodimentsthe controller unit 830 includes circuitry for coordinating orsynchronizing the operation of the focusing unit 810 and the emittingunit 820. As a first example, the controller unit 830 may select atransmitter frequency for the emitting unit 820 and adjust the focusingunit 810 to an operating frequency substantially equal to thetransmitter frequency. As a second example, the controller unit mayoperate one or more selected emitters—the one or more selected emittershaving a particular axial extent—and correspondingly vary the axialextent of an interior field region of a negatively-refractive focusingstructure (such as region 130 in FIGS. 1 and 3) to enclose theparticular axial extent, and/or correspondingly vary an axialmagnification provided by a negatively-refractive focusing structure.

The foregoing detailed description has set forth various embodiments ofthe devices and/or processes via the use of block diagrams, flowcharts,and/or examples.

Insofar as such block diagrams, flowcharts, and/or examples contain oneor more functions and/or operations, it will be understood by thosewithin the art that each function and/or operation within such blockdiagrams, flowcharts, or examples can be implemented, individuallyand/or collectively, by a wide range of hardware, software, firmware, orvirtually any combination thereof. In one embodiment, several portionsof the subject matter described herein may be implemented viaApplication Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Field ProgrammableGate Arrays (FPGAs), digital signal processors (DSPs), or otherintegrated formats. However, those skilled in the art will recognizethat some aspects of the embodiments disclosed herein, in whole or inpart, can be equivalently implemented in integrated circuits, as one ormore computer programs running on one or more computers (e.g., as one ormore programs running on one or more computer systems), as one or moreprograms running on one or more processors (e.g., as one or moreprograms running on one or more microprocessors), as firmware, or asvirtually any combination thereof, and that designing the circuitryand/or writing the code for the software and or firmware would be wellwithin the skill of one of skill in the art in light of this disclosure.In addition, those skilled in the art will appreciate that themechanisms of the subject matter described herein are capable of beingdistributed as a program product in a variety of forms, and that anillustrative embodiment of the subject matter described herein appliesregardless of the particular type of signal bearing medium used toactually carry out the distribution. Examples of a signal bearing mediuminclude, but are not limited to, the following: a recordable type mediumsuch as a floppy disk, a hard disk drive, a Compact Disc (CD), a DigitalVideo Disk (DVD), a digital tape, a computer memory, etc.; and atransmission type medium such as a digital and/or an analogcommunication medium (e.g., a fiber optic cable, a,waveguide, a wiredcommunications link, a wireless communication link, etc.).

In a general sense, those skilled in the art will recognize that thevarious aspects described herein which can be implemented, individuallyand/or collectively, by a wide range of hardware, software, firmware, orany combination thereof can be viewed as being composed of various typesof “electrical circuitry.” Consequently, as used herein “electricalcircuitry” includes, but is not limited to, electrical circuitry havingat least one discrete electrical circuit, electrical circuitry having atleast one integrated circuit, electrical circuitry having at least oneapplication specific integrated circuit, electrical circuitry forming ageneral purpose computing device configured by a computer program (e.g.,a general purpose computer configured by a computer program which atleast partially carries out processes and/or devices described herein,or a microprocessor configured by a computer program which at leastpartially carries out processes and/or devices described herein),electrical circuitry forming a memory device (e.g., forms of randomaccess memory), and/or electrical circuitry forming a communicationsdevice (e.g., a modem, communications switch, or optical-electricalequipment). Those having skill in the art will recognize that thesubject matter described herein may be implemented in an analog ordigital fashion or some combination thereof

All of the above U.S. patents, U.S. patent application publications,U.S. patent applications, foreign patents, foreign patent applicationsand non-patent publications referred to in this specification and/orlisted in any Application Data Sheet, are incorporated herein byreference, to the extent not inconsistent herewith.

One skilled in the art will recognize that the herein describedcomponents (e.g., steps), devices, and objects and the discussionaccompanying them are used as examples for the sake of conceptualclarity and that various configuration modifications are within theskill of those in the art. Consequently, as used herein, the specificexemplars set forth and the accompanying discussion are intended to berepresentative of their more general classes. In general, use of anyspecific exemplar herein is also intended to be representative of itsclass, and the non-inclusion of such specific components (e.g., steps),devices, and objects herein should not be taken as indicating thatlimitation is desired.

With respect to the use of substantially any plural and/or singularterms herein, those having skill in the art can translate from theplural to the singular and/or from the singular to the plural as isappropriate to the context and/or application. The varioussingular/plural permutations are not expressly set forth herein for sakeof clarity.

While particular aspects of the present subject matter described hereinhave been shown and described, it will be apparent to those skilled inthe art that, based upon the teachings herein, changes and modificationsmay be made without departing from the subject matter described hereinand its broader aspects and, therefore, the appended claims are toencompass within their scope all such changes and modifications as arewithin the true spirit and scope of the subject matter described herein.Furthermore, it is to be understood that the invention is defined by theappended claims. It will be understood by those within the art that, ingeneral, terms used herein, and especially in the appended claims (e.g.,bodies of the appended claims) are generally intended as “open” terms(e.g., the term “including” should be interpreted as “including but notlimited to,” the term “having” should be interpreted as “having atleast,” the term “includes” should be interpreted as “includes but isnot limited to,” etc.). It will be further understood by those withinthe art that if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation isintended, such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and inthe absence of such recitation no such intent is present. For example,as an aid to understanding, the following appended claims may containusage of the introductory phrases “at least one” and “one or more” tointroduce claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases should notbe construed to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by theindefinite articles “a” or “an” limits any particular claim containingsuch introduced claim recitation to inventions containing only one suchrecitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases“one or more” or “at least one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or“an” (e.g., “a” and/or “an” should typically be interpreted to mean “atleast one” or “one or more”); the same holds true for the use ofdefinite articles used to introduce claim recitations. In addition, evenif a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitlyrecited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitationshould typically be interpreted to mean at least the recited number(e.g., the bare recitation of “two recitations,” without othermodifiers, typically means at least two recitations, or two or morerecitations). Furthermore, in those instances where a conventionanalogous to “at least one of A, B, and C, etc.” is used, in generalsuch a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the artwould understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at least one ofA, B, and C” would include but not be limited to systems that have Aalone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and Ctogether, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). In those instances where aconvention analogous to “at least one of A, B, or C, etc.” is used, ingeneral such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill inthe art would understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at leastone of A, B, or C” would include but not be limited to systems that haveA alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and Ctogether, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). It will be furtherunderstood by those within the art that virtually any disjunctive wordand/or phrase presenting two or more alternative terms, whether in thedescription, claims, or drawings, should be understood to contemplatethe possibilities of including one of the terms, either of the terms, orboth terms. For example, the phrase “A or B” will be understood toinclude the possibilities of “A” or “B” or “A and B.”

With respect to the appended claims, those skilled in the art willappreciate that recited operations therein may generally be performed inany order. Examples of such alternate orderings may include overlapping,interleaved, interrupted, reordered, incremental, preparatory,supplemental, simultaneous, reverse, or other variant orderings, unlesscontext dictates otherwise. With respect to context, even terms like“responsive to,” “related to,” or other past-tense adjectives aregenerally not intended to exclude such variants, unless context dictatesotherwise.

While various aspects and embodiments have been disclosed herein, otheraspects and embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art.The various aspects and embodiments disclosed herein are for purposes ofillustration and are not intended to be limiting, with the true scopeand spirit being indicated by the following claims.

1. An electromagnetic apparatus, comprising: a negatively-refractive focusing structure disposed to transmit electromagnetic energy from an interior field region with an axial magnification substantially greater than one. 2-20. (canceled)
 21. The electromagnetic apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: at least one electromagnetic emitter positioned within the interior field region. 22-28. (canceled)
 29. The electromagnetic apparatus of claim 1, wherein the negatively-refractive focusing structure is disposed to transmit electromagnetic energy to an exterior focusing region.
 30. The electromagnetic apparatus of claim 29, wherein the axial magnification corresponds to a ratio of an axial extent of the exterior focusing region to an axial extent of the interior field region. 31-37. (canceled)
 38. The electromagnetic apparatus of claim 1, wherein the negatively-refractive focusing structure is characterized by electromagnetic parameters that include: axial electromagnetic parameters; and transverse electromagnetic parameters that inversely correspond to the axial electromagnetic parameters.
 39. (canceled)
 40. The electromagnetic apparatus of claim 38, wherein the electromagnetic parameters define a negative index of refraction within at least a portion of the interior field region.
 41. (canceled)
 42. The electromagnetic apparatus of claim 38, wherein the electromagnetic parameters define an index of refraction less than minus one within at least a portion of the interior field region.
 43. The electromagnetic apparatus of claim 38, wherein the negatively-refractive focusing structure defines an axial direction, and the axial electromagnetic parameters correspond to the axial direction.
 44. (canceled)
 45. (canceled)
 46. (canceled)
 47. (canceled)
 48. The electromagnetic apparatus of claim 43, wherein the transverse electromagnetic parameters correspond to a transverse direction, the transverse direction being substantially perpendicular to the axial direction.
 49. (canceled)
 50. (canceled)
 51. The electromagnetic apparatus of claim 38, wherein the axial electromagnetic parameters include an axial permittivity.
 52. The electromagnetic apparatus of claim 51, wherein the transverse electromagnetic parameters include a transverse permittivity that is substantially a multiplicative inverse of the axial permittivity.
 53. (canceled)
 54. The electromagnetic apparatus of claim 52, wherein the axial permittivity is less than zero and greater than minus one.
 55. The electromagnetic apparatus of claim 51, wherein the axial electromagnetic parameters include an axial permeability.
 56. The electromagnetic apparatus of claim 55, wherein the transverse electromagnetic parameters include a transverse permeability that is substantially a multiplicative inverse of the axial permeability.
 57. (canceled)
 58. The electromagnetic apparatus of claim 56, wherein the axial permeability is less than zero and greater than minus one.
 59. The electromagnetic apparatus of claim 55, wherein the axial permittivity is substantially equal to the axial permeability.
 60. The electromagnetic apparatus of claim 59, wherein the transverse electromagnetic parameters include a transverse permeability that is substantially a multiplicative inverse of the axial permeability.
 61. (canceled)
 62. The electromagnetic apparatus of claim 60, wherein the axial permeability is less than zero and greater than minus one.
 63. The electromagnetic apparatus of claim 1, wherein the negatively-refractive focusing structure includes an output surface region substantially adjoining an adjacent region, the adjacent region being exterior to the negatively-refractive focusing structure, and the adjacent region is substantially nonreflective of electromagnetic energy incident upon the adjacent region from the output surface region.
 64. (canceled)
 65. The electromagnetic apparatus of claim 63, wherein a wave impedance of the adjacent region is substantially equal to a wave impedance of the output surface region.
 66. The electromagnetic apparatus of claim 65, wherein the adjacent region defines a first permittivity and a first permeability, the output surface region defines a second permittivity and a second permeability, and a ratio of the second permittivity to the first permittivity is substantially equal to a ratio of the second permeability to the first permeability. 67-70. (canceled)
 71. The electromagnetic apparatus of claim 66, wherein the second permittivity is less than zero.
 72. The electromagnetic apparatus of claim 66, wherein the second permeability is less than zero.
 73. The electromagnetic apparatus of claim 72, wherein the second permittivity is less than zero.
 74. The electromagnetic apparatus of claim 66, wherein the output surface region defines a surface normal direction and a surface parallel direction, the second permittivity includes a surface normal permittivity corresponding to the surface normal direction and a surface parallel permittivity corresponding to the surface parallel direction, and a ratio of the surface normal permittivity to the first permittivity is substantially a multiplicative inverse of a ratio of the surface parallel permittivity to the first permittivity.
 75. (canceled)
 76. The electromagnetic apparatus of claim 74, wherein the ratio of the surface normal permittivity to the first permittivity is less than zero and greater than minus one.
 77. The electromagnetic apparatus of claim 74, wherein the second permeability includes a surface normal permeability corresponding to the surface normal direction and a surface parallel permeability corresponding to the surface parallel direction, and a ratio of the surface normal permeability to the first permeability is substantially a multiplicative inverse of a ratio of the surface parallel permeability to the first permeability.
 78. (canceled)
 79. The electromagnetic apparatus of claim 77, wherein the ratio of the surface normal permittivity to the first permittivity is less than zero and greater than minus one.
 80. The electromagnetic apparatus of claim 1, wherein the negatively-refractive focusing structure includes an artificially-structured material having an effective electromagnetic response that corresponds to the electromagnetic parameters.
 81. The electromagnetic apparatus of claim 80, wherein the interior field region is at least partially inside the artificially-structured material.
 82. The electromagnetic apparatus of claim 81, wherein the interior field region is completely inside the artificially-structured material.
 83. The electromagnetic apparatus of claim 80, wherein the artificially-structured material includes a photonic crystal.
 84. (canceled)
 85. (canceled)
 86. (canceled)
 87. The electromagnetic apparatus of claim 80, wherein the artificially-structured material includes a metamaterial.
 88. The electromagnetic apparatus of claim 87, wherein the metamaterial includes at least one electromagnetically-responsive structure having a plurality of distributed electromagnetic responses, the plurality of distributed electromagnetic responses composing the effective electromagnetic response.
 89. The electromagnetic apparatus of claim 88, wherein the distributed electromagnetic responses include distributed inductive responses.
 90. The electromagnetic apparatus of claim 88, wherein the distributed electromagnetic responses include distributed capacitive responses.
 91. The electromagnetic apparatus of claim 88, wherein the distributed electromagnetic responses include distributed inductive-capacitive responses.
 92. The electromagnetic apparatus of claim 88, wherein the at least one electromagnetically-responsive structure includes transmission lines.
 93. (canceled)
 94. (canceled)
 95. (canceled)
 96. The electromagnetic apparatus of claim 87, wherein the metamaterial includes a plurality of electromagnetically responsive elements disposed at a plurality of spatial locations and having a plurality of individual responses, the plurality of individual responses composing the effective electromagnetic response. 97-103. (canceled)
 104. The electromagnetic apparatus of claim 96, wherein the electromagnetically responsive elements include discrete circuit elements.
 105. The electromagnetic apparatus of claim 104, wherein the discrete circuit elements include inductors.
 106. The electromagnetic apparatus of claim 104, wherein the discrete circuit elements include capacitors.
 107. The electromagnetic apparatus of claim 104, wherein the discrete circuit elements include semiconductor devices.
 108. The electromagnetic apparatus of claim 107, wherein the semiconductor devices include diodes.
 109. The electromagnetic apparatus of claim 107, wherein the semiconductor devices include transistors.
 110. The electromagnetic apparatus of claim 96, wherein the electromagnetically responsive elements include integrated circuit elements.
 111. The electromagnetic apparatus of claim 96, wherein the electromagnetically responsive elements include printed circuit elements.
 112. The electromagnetic apparatus of claim 96, wherein the electromagnetically responsive elements include metallic structures.
 113. The electromagnetic apparatus of claim 96, wherein the electromagnetically responsive elements include LC resonators.
 114. The electromagnetic apparatus of claim 96, wherein the electromagnetically responsive elements include plasmonic resonators.
 115. The electromagnetic apparatus of claim 96, wherein the electromagnetically responsive elements include nanostructures.
 116. The electromagnetic apparatus of claim 115, wherein the nanostructures include nanorods.
 117. The electromagnetic apparatus of claim 116, wherein the nanorods are paired nanorods.
 118. The electromagnetic apparatus of claim 116, wherein the nanorods are interconnected to compose a fishnet structure.
 119. The electromagnetic apparatus of claim 96, wherein the electromagnetically responsive elements include split-ring resonators.
 120. The electromagnetic apparatus of claim 96, wherein the electromagnetically responsive elements include subwavelength elements having spatial extents substantially less than a free space wavelength corresponding to a frequency of the input electromagnetic energy. 121-271. (canceled) 